The present invention relates to a fastening and adjusting device, particularly usable in ski boots.
Several fastening and adjusting devices are known nowadays having a round knob adapted to control a winder member for traction elements, such as cables for example, adapted to fasten the quarters or to secure the foot inside the boot.
To this aim, this same assignee has filed a U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,456 granted Feb. 28, 1984, which claimed a closure device comprising a casing associated to one of the flaps of the boot to be joined, and provided with a knob for actuating a winder spool. The spool winds at least one string associated with the other one of the flaps to be joined. The device furthermore comprises pawl means controlled by said knob and adapted to lock the spool in any position, by rotating the knob in one direction, and to release said spool, by rotating the knob in the opposite direction.
Although such a known device is reliable, it has nevertheless a few drawbacks: the pawl means, and the relative rotation pivot, are located at the casing; a rotating spool for winding a pair of cables and a pinion gear rotated by the knob are housed inside the casing; and therefore a toothed gear associated with the knob has been located outside the casing. This arrangement entails the use of a large number of components that consequently increases both the global cost of the device and the assembling operations.
It has been furthermore noted that the device has a large longitudinal size and it is consequently difficult to fit it into the boot structure.
Other devices of this type have temporary locking means of the winder, constituted by a combination of ratchet pawl engaging a toothed section, and the pawl as well as the relative rotation pivot are located at a ring interposed between a knob operated by the skier and a body on which said toothed section is provided.
Also in this case, there is a large number of components and a large longitudinal size.